Did the driver make an error?

This is one of the many questions the National Transportation Safety Board will seek to answer in its investigation.

It isn't yet clear whether the driver of the limousine, Scott Lisinicchia, 53, made any avoidable errors when he drove through an intersection at the bottom of a hill and crashed into an unoccupied vehicle before the limo came to rest in a ditch.

There were no skidmarks left at the scene of the crash, though that doesn't necessarily mean the driver didn't attempt to brake, State Police said.

Autopsy results will answer whether Lisinicchia, who was one of the 20 killed in the crash, was in any way impaired during the incident.

An attorney for Lisinicchia's family issued a statement saying the family believes Prestige Limousine gave him a faulty car to drive.

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Kim Lisinicchia talks about her husband, Scott, the limo driver in the fatal Schoharie crash in which 20 people died.
Jordan Fenster, jfenster@lohud.com

"The family believes that unbeknownst to him he was provided with a vehicle that was neither roadworthy nor safe for any of its occupants," the attorney, George Longworth, said in a statement.

The state says Lisinicchia didn't have the appropriate "passenger clearance" on his commercial driver's license to operate a vehicle with capacity to carry more than 15 passengers.

Those included issues with the brake system as recently as September, with the state DOT taking the vehicle out of service until the company could prove it made the repairs.

Lee Kindlon, an attorney for Prestige Limousine and the Hussain family, said the repairs were made following the inspection.

The DOT, however, says it did not certify the car to be back on the road.

"As per DOT's specific directive, this vehicle should not have been operating as a commercial vehicle on the road, period," the agency said Wednesday.

"We did not approve the vehicle for use. It should never have been on the road to begin with."

What about the intersection?

All 18 people in the limo and two pedestrians were killed.(Photo: Francois Duckett, AP)

That's another issue under review.

The accident occurred at the bottom of steep hill at the intersection of Route 30A and Route 30 next to a country store -- where two bystanders were among the 20 killed.

Neighbors said the grade of the road has been problematic, and a decade ago the state changed it from a Y-shaped intersection to a T-shaped intersection.

In all, the state DOT said four accident have occurred there over the past decade.

But the safety of the intersection is part of the investigation, authorities said.

Schoharie Town Supervisor Alan Tavenner said days after the crash, "There were problems with tractor-trailers losing their brakes on that hill.”

In fact, tractor trailers were banned from Route 30 years ago.

Why wasn't the limo impounded?

Drone photo of the scene at Route 30 and Route 30A in Schoharie, New York, where a limousine car accident kill 17 passengers plus the driver and an additional two pedestrians Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018.(Photo: Ricky Flores and Peter Carr, The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News)

On Aug. 25, State Police said a trooper stopped the limo in Saratoga Springs and issued violations to the company and to Lisinicchia that he was operating the limo without the proper license.

"The Trooper also took steps to ensure that the vehicle was taken off the road, returned to its original location and directed the driver not to drive the vehicle," State Police said.

Then a month later, the limo failed an inspection by the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

But while the limo was affixed with a sticker that it couldn't operate, the state didn't impound it -- and then it ended up back on the road.

In the case of the police stop in August, "The Trooper did not have the legal authority to seize the plates or the vehicle during that stop," State Police said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said it wasn't about the state's actions. It was the company that continued to operate a limo that was repeatedly deemed unsafe by the state.

Nauman Hussain, left, leaves Cobleskill Town Court on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, with attorney Lee Kindlon after he was arraigned and charged in connection with the deadly limo crash in Schoharie on Oct. 6, 2018.(Photo: Jon Campbell/USA Today Albany Bureau)

Nauman Hussain is currently facing a single count of criminally negligent homicide, a Class E felony that is punishable by up to four years in prison.

All 20 victims were listed by State Police within the single count.

The charge accuses Nauman Hussain of having "grossly deviated from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe" because he knew (or should have known) Lisinicchia wasn't properly licensed and that the limo was in disrepair.

It's possible it could be split into separate charges for each victim at a later date, which would mean he could face significantly more jail time.

"Any changes to that will be done with the consent and on the direction of the Schoharie County district attorney," Beach said.

Beach said Nauman Hussain received written notification that Lisinicchia didn't have the proper license when the driver was pulled over weeks prior to the accident.

Who will be liable?

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Family members console one another at the Mohawk Gatway Bridge in the city of Amsterdam during a candlelight vigil for the 20 people who were killed in a limousine accident in Schoharie, N.Y., on Saturday. RICKY FLORES/LOHUD.COM-USA TODAY NETWORK

Oct 8, 2018; Amsterdam, NY, USA; Thousands gather at the Mohawk Gatway Bridge in the city of Amsterdam for a candlelight vigil for the 20 people who were killed in limousine accident in Schoharie on Saturday. RICKY FLORES/LOHUD.COM-USA TODAY NETWORK

From left, New York Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, city of Amsterdam mayor Michael Villa, New York state Sen. George A. Amedore, and New York Congressman Paul Tonko gather with family members and friends
of the victims for a candlelight vigil memorial at Mohawk Valley Gateway Overlook Pedestrian Bridge in Amsterdam, N.Y., Monday, Oct. 8, 2018. The memorial honored 20 people who died in Saturday's fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, N.Y. Hans Pennink/AP

Mourners attend a candlelight vigil for the victims of the fatal limousine crash on Oct. 8, 2018 in Amsterdam, New York. Twenty died in the crash including the driver of the limo, 17 passengers, and two pedestrians. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

Family members console one another at the Mohawk Gateway Bridge, Monday, mourning the loss of 20 people killed in the largest U.S. transportation accident since 009. RICKY FLORES/LOHUD.COM-USA TODAY NETWORK

AMSTERDAM, NY - OCTOBER 08: Mourners attend a candlelight vigil for the victims of the fatal limousine crash on October 8, 2018 in Amsterdam, New York. 20 people died in the crash including the driver of the limo, 17 passengers, and two pedestrians. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

What was happening that day?

20 people were killed when a limousine crashed in Schoharie, NY October 7, 2018.(Photo: File)

Seventeen friends, many married or related and from Amsterdam, were heading to Ommegang, a craft brewery in Cooperstown, to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday.

It was the birthday for Amy Steenburg, a newlywed and the youngest of the four sisters in the limousine.

They were all killed along her husband and brother in law.

The trip also leaves some unanswered questions.

It's about a one-hour car trip between Amsterdam and Cooperstown, but it's unclear why the limo was in Schoharie -- which would seem to be out of the way.

Police haven't clarified the limo's route.

“I have had some basic (conversations), how was he getting from A to B, the routes and all those things," Kindlon said.

"Some of those questions we can’t answer, unfortunately.”

Will it lead to change?

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Speakers at a vigil in Amsterdam sought to console those grieving after a crash Oct. 6, 2018, killed 17 passengers, a driver and two bystanders.
Georgie Silvarole and Laura Nichols, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Probably so. About 20 states do require back-seat passengers in limos to wear seat belts.

New York is not one of them. New York only requires the front-seat passenger and driver to wear seat belts.

Also, it could promote new regulations on how limos are overseen.

Not only did the limo not have a state inspection, it appeared to lack a federal certificate for an SUV that was converted to a stretch limousine, Cuomo said.

"We got to let the NTSB do their job. We need to let the State Police do their job," Assemblyman Christopher Tague, R- Schoharie, told reporters at the scene last Monday.

"And then we'll take the information that they give us, and we will bring legislation after we get the reports back from all the investigators."